Going to the Trail of the Cedars

The western end of the Going to the Sun Road, mostly follows McDonald Creek, which winds its way around the mountains here in Glacier National Park. The water from the mountains forms the creek and all these water goes out to Lake McDonald. I was heading eastward which is basically uphill and opposite the direction of McDonald Creek. At the time of my visit, the Going to the Sun Road was closed where the middle would be. This means one can’t drive from one end of the road to the other. I had already been to the opposite end and I am now exploring the western end of the road. After I passed the series of waterfalls here are Lake McDonald. All vehicles would have come to a stop where the sign for Avalanche Lake is.

When I went there, it was already after peak tourist season. So it came as a shock to me how difficult it was to find parking here. For starters, this area wasn’t meant to be a parking area since most vehicles would be passing through, however, this is a rather popular place so I thought there would have been more spaces. I circled around a few times and was unable to find a place to park. It was then I realized that another part was open to vehicles. This was a camping area and it had some cabins and most importantly – parking. It was already low season so the cabins weren’t occupied. This meant that parking where the cabins were is available. I managed to find a spot which was still a bit of a walk to the trailhead itself. I didn’t mind since I knew I would be walking further than that today.

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